1. Field of the Invention
The present inventive concept relates to an image forming apparatus forming an image on a printing medium, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus having an improved mounting and supporting structure of an image forming cartridge.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus performs a printing operation of forming a visible image on a printing medium such as paper, etc. An image forming apparatus of an electrophotographic type includes an image forming unit which converts image data received from a host into an electrostatic latent image, and forms a visible image based on the electrostatic latent image by a developer on a printing medium, thereby performing the printing operation.
However, as the printing operation is repeated in the image forming unit of the image forming apparatus, the stored developer is exhausted, or an image carrying body for forming an image is worn away. Accordingly, to make replenishment for a consumed developer and replacement of internal elements easy, the image forming unit has been manufactured in the form of a detachable cartridge type.
A conventional image forming apparatus has a configuration of supporting a mounted cartridge not to move during a printing operation, thereby preventing an image defect due to vibration during the printing work. Specifically, when the cartridge is completely mounted to a main body frame, a pressing member employing a spring or the like downwardly presses the cartridge in order to prevent the cartridge from being moved by vibration according to driving of internal parts of the image forming apparatus.
However, the conventional image forming apparatus is configured to assemble various components such as the pressing member, the spring, etc., with respect to the main body frame. Since individual components are respectively manufactured and assembled, manufacturing cost and processes increase, and it is necessary to consider tolerance among components in designing the image forming apparatus. Also, if the number of components increases, the image forming apparatus becomes more likely to break down because the configuration thereof becomes more complicated.